Policy engine in an Internet Protocol multimedia subsystem

ABSTRACT

A system includes a policy engine in an Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem (IMS). The policy engine may be configured to store a group of policies associated with the IMS, and forward the group of policies to a group of policy components in the IMS.

PRIORITY INFORMATION

The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 60/703,812, filed Jul. 29, 2005, and U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application No. 60/764,748, filed Feb. 3, 2006. The entirecontents of both provisional applications are incorporated herein byreference in their entireties.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) provides mobile andfixed multimedia services. The aim of IMS is not only to provide newservices, but all the services, current and future, that the Internetprovides. In this way, IMS gives network operators and service providersthe ability to control and charge for each service. In addition, usersare given the ability to execute services from their home networks, aswell as when the users are roaming.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate an embodiment of the inventionand, together with the description, explain the invention. In thedrawings,

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary system in which systems and methods,consistent with principles of the invention, may be implemented;

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary configuration of the policy engine ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary database that may be associated with thepolicy engine of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 illustrates a flow chart of exemplary processing in an exemplaryimplementation;

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of the processing described with respectto FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 illustrates a flow chart of exemplary processing in anotherexemplary implementation; and

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of the processing described with respectto FIG. 6.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following detailed description of implementations consistent withprinciples of the invention refers to the accompanying drawings. Thesame reference numbers in different drawings may identify the same orsimilar elements. Also, the following detailed description does notlimit the invention. Instead, the scope of the invention is defined bythe appended claims and their equivalents.

Implementations described herein relate to a policy engine that acts asa central repository for policies within an Internet Protocol (IP)Multimedia Subsystem (IMS). The policy engine may also forward policyupdates to the appropriate policy decision points in the IMS so thatpolicy changes can be reflected in real time or near real time.

Exemplary System

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary system 100 in which systems and methods,consistent with principles of the invention, may be implemented. Asillustrated, system 100 may include a serving call session controlfunction (S-CSCF) 102, an interrogating call session control function(I-CSCF) 104, a proxy call session control function (P-CSCF) 106, a homesubscriber server (HSS) 108, a subscription location function (SLF) 110,two media gateway (MGW) functions 112, two media gateway controlfunctions (MGCFs) 114, a shared local gateway (SLG) 116, a networkgateway (NGW) 118, a breakout gateway control function (BGCF) 120, abreak in gateway control function (BIGCF) 122, a multimedia resourcefunction (MRF) 124 that may include a multimedia resource functioncontroller (MRFC) 126, a multimedia resource function processor (MRFP)128, and a media resource broker (MRB) 130, one or more applicationservers 132, services creation environment (SCE) logic 134, a centraloffice exchange service (CENTREX) 136, a unified messaging service (UM)138, a carrier application service (AS) 140, a group list managementserver (CLMS) 142, a presence service 144, a telephone number mapping(ENUM) server 146, an access session border controller (A-SBC) 148, aninterconnection session border controller (I-SBC) 150, a policy engine152, a policy decision function (PDF) 154, a resource managementfunction (RM) 156, a charging function (CF) 158, a charging datafunction (CDF) 160, a charging gateway function (CGF) 162, and a genericuser profile (GUP) 164. Although not specifically depicted in FIG. 1,the IMS core may include, for example, S-CSCF 102, I-CSCF 104, P-CSCF106, and HSS 108. The number of components illustrated in FIG. 1 isprovided for simplicity. In practice, a typical system could includemore or fewer components than illustrated in FIG. 1. Moreover, it willbe appreciated that the IMS standards are continually evolving.Implementations described herein are equally applicable to current andfuture IMS standards.

A. Call Session Control Components

S-CSCF 102, I-CSCF 104, and P-CSCF 106 may be considered call sessioncontrol components in system 100. The call control components may beresponsible for parsing a session (e.g., a session initiation protocol(SIP) session) and applying logic (e.g., business logic, service logic,operational logic, etc.) on a per event basis. The outcome of thesession control may be to route an event to the appropriate componentsand/or append SIP headers and values.

S-CSCF 102 may be viewed as the brain of the IMS core. S-CSCF 102 mayperform session control, registration, and service invocation for theusers of the IMS core. S-CSCF 102 may receive a user profile from HSS108 and route sessions requested by an IMS user (also called an “IMSsubscriber” or “subscriber”). Additionally, S-CSCF 102 may perform userauthentication based on information from HSS 108.

In some implementations, S-CSCF 102 may include a Service CapabilityInteraction Manager (SCIM) and Resource Management (RM) functions. TheSCIM may be responsible for orchestrating the offerings of one or moreapplication services across various service enabling technologies andplatforms to produce valued services for IMS users. The RM may beresponsible for executing business rules and service level agreements(SLAs) by allocating the appropriate resources. S-CSCF 102 may receivesession requests from the following sources: P-CSCF 106, and I-CSCF 104.After service invocation is completed, S-CSCF 102 may disposition thesessions by routing the session requests to the destinations via, forexample, P-CSCF 106, BGCF 120, and/or I-SBC 150.

I-CSCF 104 may act as the main point of contact for connections to andfrom a subscriber in the IMS platform. I-CSCF 104 may be located at theedge of the IMS core. I-CSCF 104 may receive SIP messages and identifythe next hops for the SIP messages. To achieve this, I-CSCF 104 mayquery HSS 108 for the location (e.g., an address) of the appropriateS-CSCF to which a particular SIP message is to be forwarded.

P-CSCF 106 may receive session requests from end points located at bothpublic IP networks and private IP networks. P-CSCF 106 may validaterequests, forward the requests to selected destinations, and process andforward the responses. P-CSCF 106 may generate chargeable events andsend information relating to the chargeable events to CF 158.Additionally, P-CSCF 106 may interact with PDF 154 to grant, reject, ordowngrade a session request based on platform resources and quality ofservice (QoS) measurements.

HSS 108 may include one or more servers that act as the centralrepository for user-related information. HSS 108 may containuser-related subscription information for handling multimedia sessions.Some of the information contained in HSS 108 may include informationidentifying the location of a particular S-CSCF 102 for a particularuser. As indicated above, the location of a particular S-CSCF 102 may beconveyed to I-CSCF 104 upon receiving a query from a network element.HSS 108 may also include user profile information that contains servicetrigger points and information identifying the corresponding resources(e.g., applications, media, services, etc.) that offer the services. Theuser profile information may be forwarded to S-CSCF 102 for sessioncontrol and service treatment. Moreover, HSS 108 may provide and receiveupdates directly from application servers 132.

SLF 110 may include one or more databases that contain subscriptionlocation information for subscribers. SLF 110 may receive a query,containing identification information for a subscriber, from I-CSCF 104and return, based on the subscriber identification information,information identifying an HSS 108 that serves the subscriber.

B. Gateways and Gateway Control Functions

System 100 may include various components that bridge the IMS core toexternal networks, such as a public switched telephone network (PSTN),the Internet, etc. These components, which may include MGW function 112,MGCF 114, SLG 116, NGW 118, BGCF 120, and BIGCF 122, may performprotocol conversion and event routing to or from the IMS core. In oneimplementation consistent with principles of the invention, SLG 116 andNGW 118 may be replaced with more generic gateways that include MGW 112and MGCF 114.

MGW function 112 may connect PSTN networks and the IMS core. In oneimplementation, MGW function 112 may terminate bearer channels from aPSTN network and media steams from the IMS core (e.g., real-timetransport protocol (RTP) streams in an IP network or Asynchronoustransfer mode Adaptation Layer 2 (AAL2)/ATM connections in an ATMbackbone), execute the conversion between these terminations, andperform transcoding and signal processing. In addition, MGW function 112may provide tones and announcements to circuit switched (CS) users. Inone implementation consistent with principles of the invention, MGWfunction 112 may operate under the control of MGCF 114.

MGCF 114 may be part of the gateway infrastructure that enablescommunication between the IMS core and PSTN networks. MGCF 114 mayperform protocol conversion between the Integrated Services DigitalNetwork (ISDN) User Part (ISUP) or Primary Rate Interface (PRI) and SIPprotocols before forwarding a session to the IMS core. In similarfashion, IMS-originated sessions directed towards PSTN users maytraverse MGCF 114. MGCF 114 may control media channels in MGW 112. Inaddition, MGCF 114 may report account information to CF 158.

SLG 116 may include a set of MGCF 114 and MGW 112 entities. SLG 116 mayconnect the IMS core to Class 5 networks. In one implementation, theinterfaces between SLG 116 and the Class 5 networks may include DigitalSignal 1 (DS1)-based Non-Facilities Associated Signaling (NFAS) PRIs.

NGW 118 may include a set of MGCF 114 and MGW 112 entities. NGW 118 mayconnect the IMS core to Class 3 networks. In one implementation, theinterfaces between MGCF 114 of NGW 118 and the Class 3 networks mayinclude DS1-based signaling system 7 (SS7) interfaces and the interfacesbetween MGW 112 of NGW 118 and Class 3 networks may include DS1-bearerchannels.

BGCF 120 may connect IMS-initiated calls to Circuit Switch (CS)customers (e.g., an IMS user calling a telephone number in the PSTN).BGCF 120 may, based on a routing policy, select an appropriate networkin which the connection is to be made or may select the appropriategateway to the other network.

BIGCF 122 may correspond to an ingress point that handles incoming callsfrom PSTN gateways (e.g., NGW 118, SLG 116), wholesale gateways, otherIP-based carriers (e.g., based on Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)peering agreements), Intrado Peering Points, etc. BIGCF 122 may routecalls from and to non-IMS subscribers. BIGCF 122 may route calls to theIMS core, when the calls are destined for IMS subscribers or when IMSapplications are invoked, or may bypass the IMS core elements (P-CSCF106, I-CSCF 104, S-CSCF 102, HSS 108, etc.) when calls are destined fornon-IMS subscribers and no IMS applications are invoked by the callingparty or called party. BIGCF 122 may route calls to PSTN-basedtermination points to BGCF 120 and route calls to IP-based terminationpoints (e.g., a wholesale termination point, IP-based carriers, etc.)directly to I-SBCs 150 associated with the IP-based termination points.If calls are either from and/or to IMS subscribers or IMS applications(or services) are invoked, BIGCF 122 may route the calls to the IMS corevia I-CSCF 104 and using S-CSCF 102 to invoke calling and/or calledparty features.

C. Multimedia Resource Function (MRF)

The IMS core may provide multimedia services. Examples of multimediaservices (or applications) include playing announcements, audio/videorecording and playback, interactive voice response (IVR), fax receptionand transmission, automatic speech recognition (ASR), text-to-speechconversion (TTS), multimedia conferencing, customized ring back tones,push-to-talk over cellular (PoC), video messaging, etc. MRF 124 may bepart of the IMS core and may support services that use multimediastreams.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, MRF 124 may include MRFC 126, MRFP 128, andMRB 130. MRFC 126 and MRFP 128 are the IMS resources that providesupport for bearer-related services (e.g., multi-party sessions,announcements to a user, bearer transcoding, etc.). MRFC 126 may providebearer control-related services. MRFP 128 may provide user planeresources that may be requested and instructed by MRFC 126. MRB 130 mayprovide a resource management function that is able to allow mediaresources to become common resources shared among multiple applications.

D. Application Servers

Application servers 132 may include one or more servers that provideenhanced audio, video, messaging and data services within theapplication layer of system 100. Application servers 132 may beaccessible to the users of the IMS core and provide value addedmultimedia services to those users. Application servers 132 may submitcharges to the IMS core for the services that application servers 132provide to the IMS user community.

Two types of application servers that may be used within system 100 mayinclude micro applications and macro applications (or macro applicationservices). Micro applications may be provided on a common servicesdelivery platform through the use of SCE logic 134. Micro applicationsmay include a wide variety of enhanced multimedia services that need arapid development and deployment cycle. One example of the Microapplications is the Carrier AS 140. Macro application services mayinclude Hosted IP CENTREX (HIPC) 136, Unified Messaging (UM) 138,Presence 144, and GLMS 142.

CENTREX 136 may correspond to a type of Private Branch Exchange (PBX)service in which switching occurs at a local telephone office instead ofat the company premises where the traditional PBX is located. In oneimplementation, CENTREX 136 may be replaced by or supplemented with aSIP Voice Features server. Unified messaging 138 may allow users to beable to retrieve and send voice messages from a single interface,regardless of the technology (e.g., telephone, personal computer, etc.)and may provide other unified messaging services (e.g., fax depositretrieval, voice to email, etc.). Carrier AS 140 may facilitate toolfree call processing.

E. Services Creation Environment (SCE)

SCE logic 134 may provide a foundation for rapid development of nextgeneration services. SCE 134 may support Java Specification Request (JSR) 116 SIP Servlet and a suite of externalized application programminginterfaces (APIs) for developers to gain access to the IMS core. Asingle SCE 134 may support a number of macro application servers and maysupport the building of micro applications.

F. Services

The IMS core may support a number of different services, such as GLMS142, Presence 144, and ENUM server 146. GLMS 142 may include one or moreservices that allow for group list creation, management, and use acrossmultiple applications within the IMS core. GLMS 142 may enforce accessand visibility rules. Presence 144 may include one or more services thatautomate the task of aggregating both presence and availabilityinformation. Presence 144 may inform one user about the status ofanother user's availability and willingness to communicate. Presenceservers 144 may use a Presence User Agent (PUA) to manage the presenceof the IMS subscribers and handle presence subscription requests. Forexample, an application or an IMS subscriber may act as a watcher, whichis an entity that subscribes to presence information provided byPresence Server 144. ENUM server 146 may provide translation of E.164 toSIP URIs. BIGCF 122 and S-CSCF 102 may query ENUM server 146 todetermine a next hop for a call. In some implementations consistent withprinciples of the invention, BIGCF 122 may execute ENUM queries for bothcalling and called number resolution.

G. Border Elements

The IMS core may include one or more session border controllers (SBCs)that provide control of the boundary between different service providernetworks, provide signaling protocol inter-working between the SIP-basedIMS core and other service provider networks, control the transportboundary between service provider networks, and provide usage meteringand Quality of Service (QoS) measurements for media flows. Two types ofSBCs that may be associated with the IMS core are the A-SBC 148 and theI-SBC 150. In other implementations, A-SBC 148 and I-SBC 150 may bereplaced with border gateway functions.

A-SBC 148 may correspond to an ingress point to the IMS core forCustomer Premises Equipment (CPE) traffic. A-SBC 148 may provide SIPaware firewall capabilities that support network address translation(NAT), prevent denial of service (DoS) attacks, and execute othersecurity enforcement features. A-SBC 148 may be the first SIP eventsnormalization point prior to the IMS core.

I-SBC 150 may serve as a connection point between the IMS core andwholesale gateways and also between the IMS core and IP peering VoIPcarriers. I-SBC 150 may provide SIP normalization and Topology Hidingand Internetwork Gateway (THIG) services.

H. Policy

System 100 may include a number of policy components. For example,system 100 may, as illustrated in FIG. 1, include a policy engine 152, aPDF 154, and a RM 156. Policy engine 152 may include one or morerule-based engines that govern subscriber access to the IMS core,subscriber access to resources, and routing decisions for severaldifferent types of event requests made within the IMS core. In oneimplementation, policy engine 152 may provide decision logic to policycomponents (also called “policy decision points”) within the IMS core.Policy engine 152 may manage two general categories of resources: 1)network bandwidth resources related to the transport of multimediacontent streams, and 2) application resources related to the servicelogic and media processing used to initiate and control multimediacontent streams. Policy engine 152 may maintain real time informationregarding the state of all resource requests (e.g., bandwidth requests,media requests, etc.) being made in system 100 and update theappropriate policy components (e.g., PDF 154 and/or RM 156) in system100 based on the real time information. Moreover, policy engine 152 mayallow for policies to be created, modified, and/or deleted and mayupdate the appropriate policy components (e.g., PDF 154 and/or RM 156)in real time to reflect the policy changes. Policy engine 152 mayinterface with PDF 154 and RM 156 using the extensible markup language(XML) protocol. Policy engine 152 may also interface with one or moreexternal operations support systems (OSSs) (not shown) for policycreation, modification, and/or deletion and with one or more networkmanagement systems for obtaining resource status updates.

PDF 154 may provide service-based local policy control. PDF 154 may makepolicy decisions based on session and media related information. PDF 154may exchange this decision information with another IMS element (such asA-SBC 148 or I-SBC 150) to control the flow and characteristics of acommunication link. PDF 154 may manage the bandwidth resources. PDF 154may act as a sub-component of the platform border signaling elements(P-CSCF 106, BIGCF 122, BGCF 120, and SBCs 148 and 150) and enforcepolicies to ensure that multimedia streams are transported with theproper bandwidth utilization properties and Quality of Service (QoS) inaccordance with subscriber service level agreements (SLAs).

RM 156 may be used to execute a policy at the component level. Asillustrated in FIG. 1, RM 156 may be associated with, for example,S-CSCF 102, BIGCF 122, A-SBC 148, and I-SBC 150. In one implementation,RM 156 may store and execute the policy decisions that are relevant forthe location at which RM 156 is associated.

I. Charging Function (CF)

CF 158 may include a unified system for affecting both offline chargingand online charging. Offline charging is a process where charginginformation for network resource usage is collected concurrently withthat resource usage. The charging information may be passed through achain of CFs 158. At the end of this process, Charging Detail Record(CDR) files may be generated by the network, which are then transferredto the network operator's billing domain for the purpose of subscriberbilling.

Online charging is a process where the actual charging for networkresource usage occurs in real time concurrently with that resource use.The charges may be debited from an appropriately funded subscriberaccount. An example of online charging includes pre-paid calling cardusage.

CDF 160 may compile chargeable events gathered from IMS components intoa single Charging Detail Record (CDR) for offline billing activities.CDF 160 may gather the chargeable events from a Charging TriggerFunction (CTF) that may be associated with components of system 100 and,after creating the CDR, pass the billing data to the CGF 162.

CGF 162 may act as a gateway between both the offline charging system,the online system, and an external post-processing system, such as abilling domain.

J. The Generic User Profile (GUP)

GUP 164 may include a collection of data that is stored and managed bydifferent entities, such as the user equipment, the home environment,the visited network, and the value added service providers, whichaffects the way in which an individual user experiences services. CUP164 may include a number of user profile components, and an individualservice may make use of a subset of the available user profilecomponents.

Exemplary Configuration of Policy Engine

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary configuration of policy engine 152. Asillustrated, policy engine 152 may include a bus 210, processing logic220, a memory 230, an input device 240, an output device 250, and acommunication interface 260. It will be appreciated that policy engine152 may include other components (not shown) that aid in receiving,transmitting, and/or processing data. Moreover, it will be appreciatedthat other configurations are possible.

Bus 210 may permit communication among the components of policy engine152. Processing logic 220 may include any type of processor ormicroprocessor that interprets and executes instructions. In otherimplementations, processing logic 220 may be implemented as or includean application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), field programmablegate array (FPGA), or the like. Memory 230 may include a random accessmemory (RAM) or another type of dynamic storage device that storesinformation and instructions for execution by processing logic 220, aread only memory (ROM) or another type of static storage device thatstores static information and instructions for the processing logic 220,and/or some other type of magnetic or optical recording medium and itscorresponding drive for storing information and/or instructions.

Input device 240 may include a device that permits an operator to inputinformation to policy engine 152, such as a keyboard, a keypad, a mouse,a pen, a microphone, one or more biometric mechanisms, and the like.Output device 250 may include a device that outputs information to theoperator, such as a display, a speaker, etc.

Communication interface 260 may include any transceiver-like mechanismthat enables policy engine 152 to communicate with other devices and/orsystems. For example, communication interface 260 may include mechanismsfor communicating with other components within system 100.

As will be described in detail below, policy engine 152 may performprocessing associated with maintaining and providing policies in theIMS. Policy engine 152 may perform these and other functions in responseto processing logic 220 executing software instructions contained in acomputer-readable medium, such as memory 230. A computer-readable mediummay be defined as one or more memory devices and/or carrier waves. Thesoftware instructions may be read into memory 230 from anothercomputer-readable medium or from another device via communicationinterface 260. The software instructions contained in memory 230 maycause processing logic 220 to perform processes that will be describedlater. Alternatively, hardwired circuitry may be used in place of or incombination with software instructions to implement processes consistentwith the principles of the invention. Thus, systems and methodsconsistent with the principles of the invention are not limited to anyspecific combination of hardware circuitry and software.

Exemplary Database

FIG. 3 is a diagram of an exemplary database 300 that may be associatedwith policy engine 152 in an exemplary implementation. While only onedatabase is described below, it will be appreciated that policy engine152 may be associated with additional databases stored locally at policyengine 152, such as in memory 230, or distributed throughout system 100.

As illustrated, database 300 may include a subscriber group field 310and a policy field 320. Database 300 may include other fields thatfacilitate associating policies with individual subscribers and/orsubscriber groups and/or providing policies to policy decision points insystem 100. For example, database 300 may include an additional fieldthat associates a subscriber with the subscriber group to which thesubscriber belongs.

Subscriber group field 310 may store information that uniquelyidentifies an IMS subscriber group. A subscriber group may include, forexample, a company, a wholesaler/retailer, etc. Each subscriber groupmay include one or more IMS subscribers or groups of IMS subscribers.

Policy field 320 may include information identifying one or morepolicies with which the subscriber group in subscriber group field 310is associated. The policies may include, for example, resource policiesand/or bandwidth and service level agreement policies. The resourcepolicies may define the types of resources and their specifications forvarious subscriber groups identified in subscriber group field 310. Insome exemplary implementations, a resource policy may specify a resourceor group of resources as “guaranteed” or “shared.” In one exemplaryimplementation, a premium subscriber group may be allocated a“guaranteed” resource policy, which may guarantee that resources will beavailable, while a normal subscriber group may be allocated a “shared”resource policy, which may indicate that there is no guarantee resourceswill be available. The resource policy may also specify, for example,the “time of day” that a resource (or group of resources) is guaranteedor the “day of the week” the resource (or group of resources) is“shared.”

In some implementations consistent with principles of the invention, theresource policies may be configurable by geographical location. Forexample, a particular resource policy associated with a subscriber inNorth America may specify resources from North America, rather than, forexample, Asia.

The resources identified in the resource policies may include a set ofsession control signaling and computing resources that are used toprovide value-added multimedia services to IMS subscribers. For example,the resources may include application servers (e.g., pre-paidapplications), as well as media processing servers (e.g., announcementand IP interactive voice response (IVR) servers).

The bandwidth and service level agreement policies may define thebandwidth and quality of service to which the corresponding subscribergroup is associated. In some implementations, a subscriber group may beassociated with more than one bandwidth specification and more than oneservice level agreement.

Exemplary Processing

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an exemplary process for providing policyupdates in an IMS system in an exemplary implementation. The processingdescribed in FIG. 4 may be implemented by policy engine 152. Processingmay begin with policy engine 152 receiving a policy update (block 410).The policy update may include, for example, a new policy to be added, amodification to an existing policy, a deletion of an existing policy, achange in assignment of a policy to a subscriber group, etc. Policyengine 152 may receive the policy update from, for example, an OSSprovisioning device.

Policy engine 152 may modify database 300 to reflect the policy update(block 420). For example, policy engine 152 may store a new policy indatabase 300 and/or another location associated with policy engine 152,update a policy in database 300 and/or another location associated withpolicy engine 152, delete a policy from database 300 and/or anotherlocation associated with policy engine 152, etc.

Policy engine 152 may forward the policy update to the appropriatepolicy component(s) (block 430). For example, policy engine 152 mayforward the policy update to the appropriate PDF 154 and/or appropriateRM(s) 156 associated with S-CSCF 102, P-CSCF 106, BGCF 120, BIGCF 122,A-SBC 148, and/or I-SBC 150. Policy engine 152 may identify theappropriate policy component(s) based on a number of factors. Forexample, policy engine 152 may identify the appropriate policycomponents based on the geographical location of the resource(s) towhich the policy (e.g., new, updated, and/or deleted) is associated.Policy engine 152 may also or alternatively identify the policycomponent(s) based on the policy that is being added, updated, deleted,etc. For example, if the policy is a resource policy, policy engine 152may identify RM 156 associated S-CSCF 102 as the policy component towhich the policy update is to be forwarded. As another example, if thepolicy is a service level agreement policy, policy engine 152 mayidentify one or more PDFs 154 and/or RMs 156 associated P-CSCF 106, BGCF120, BIGCF 122, A-SBC 148, and/or I-SBC 150 as the policy component(s)to which the policy update is to be forwarded.

In one exemplary implementation, policy engine 152 may forward thepolicy update to the appropriate policy component(s) using the XMLprotocol. Policy engine 152 may automatically update the appropriatepolicy components in response to receiving the policy update. In thisway, policy updates can be reflected in the IMS in real time or nearreal time.

FIG. 5 an example of the processing described above with respect to FIG.4. As illustrated in FIG. 5, assume that an OSS provision system 510updates a policy within policy engine 152. In response to the policyupdate, policy engine 152 may provide the policy update to theappropriate policy component(s), such as the appropriate PDF 154 and/orappropriate RM(s) 156 associated with S-CSCF 102, P-CSCF 106, BGCF 120,BIGCF 122, A-SBC 148, and/or I-SBC 150. In this way, policy updates canbe reflected in the IMS in real time or near real time.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an exemplary process for updating a policy inresponse to network conditions. The processing described in FIG. 6 maybe performed by policy engine 152. Processing may begin with policyengine 152 receiving a resource status update (block 610). The resourcestatus update may include, for example, an indication of a change instatus of a resource or group of resources in system 100. In oneexemplary implementation, a network management system may monitor theresources, such as application and media servers, in system 100. If, forexample, a failure occurs in one or a group of application servers, thenetwork management system may notify policy engine 152 of this failure.

Policy engine 152 may identify a policy that is associated with theresource or group of resources (block 620). For example, policy engine152 may analyze the policies stored in database 300 to identify thepolicy and identify the policy or policies that specify the particularresource or group of resources.

Policy engine 152 may update the identified policy based on the resourcestatus update (block 630). For example, assume that a subscriber grouphas a service level agreement policy for a number of conference ports.If the ports are fully occupied, then a subsequent request from thesubscriber group may be denied. However, assume that the subscribergroup has a subset of premium subscribers who are guaranteed to alwayshave access to a conference port. In this situation, policy engine 152may modify a policy to reserve a number of the ports dynamically for thepremium subscribers.

Policy engine 152 may forward the policy update to the appropriatepolicy component(s) (block 640). For example, policy engine 152 mayforward the policy update to the appropriate PDF 154 and/or appropriateRM(s) 156 associated with S-CSCF 102, P-CSCF 106, BGCF 120, BIGCF 122,A-SBC 148, and/or I-SBC 150. Policy engine 152 may identify theappropriate policy component(s) based on a number of factors. Forexample, policy engine 152 may identify the appropriate policycomponents based on the geographical location of the resource(s) towhich the policy (e.g., new, updated, and/or deleted) is associated.Policy engine 152 may also or alternatively identify the policycomponent(s) based on the policy that is updated. For example, if thepolicy is a resource policy, policy engine 152 may identify RM 156associated S-CSCF 102 as the policy component to which the policy updateis to be forwarded. As another example, if the policy is a service levelagreement policy, policy engine 152 may identify one or more PDFs 154and/or RMs 156 associated P-CSCF 106, BGCF 120, BIGCF 122, A-SBC 148,and/or I-SBC 150 as the policy component(s) to which the policy updateis to be forwarded.

In one exemplary implementation, policy engine 152 may forward thepolicy update to the appropriate policy component(s) using the XMLprotocol. Policy engine 152 may automatically update the appropriatepolicy components in response to receiving the resource status update.In this way, policy updates can be reflected in the IMS in real-time.

FIG. 7 shows an example of the processing described above with respectto FIG. 6. As illustrated in FIG. 6, a network management system (NMS)710 may monitor a group of application and media servers. Assume, forthis example, that a particular subscriber has guaranteed service to aparticular application server. Moreover, assume that the group ofapplication servers to which the particular subscriber is associatedfails. Network management system 710 may send a resource status updateto policy engine 152 to notify policy engine 152 of this status change.In response, policy engine 152 may identify the policy (or policies)associated with this group of application servers. The identified policy(or policies) may include a policy associated with the particularsubscriber. Policy engine 152 may update the policy to, for example,associate the particular subscriber with a different application serveror group of application servers. Policy engine 152 may provide thepolicy update to the appropriate policy component(s), such as theappropriate PDF 154 and/or appropriate RM(s) 156 associated with S-CSCF102, P-CSCF 106, BGCF 120, BIGCF 122, A-SBC 148, and/or I-SBC 150. Inthis way, changes in network resource status can be reflected in the IMSin real time or near real time.

CONCLUSION

Implementations described herein provide a centralized policy repositoryfor an IMS. Via the centralized policy repository, policy decisionpoints can be updated in real time to reflect changing policies and/orcurrent network conditions.

The foregoing description of exemplary implementations providesillustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or tolimit the invention to the precise form disclosed. Modifications andvariations are possible in light of the above teachings or may beacquired from practice of the invention. For example, while series ofacts have been described with respect to FIGS. 4 and 6, the order of theacts may be varied in other implementations consistent with theinvention. Moreover, non-dependent acts may be implemented in parallel.

It will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that aspects ofthe invention, as described above, may be implemented in many differentforms of software, firmware, and hardware in the implementationsillustrated in the figures. The actual software code or specializedcontrol hardware used to implement aspects consistent with theprinciples of the invention is not limiting of the invention. Thus, theoperation and behavior of the aspects of the invention were describedwithout reference to the specific software code—it being understood thatone of ordinary skill in the art would be able to design software andcontrol hardware to implement the aspects based on the descriptionherein.

Further, certain portions of the invention may be implemented as “logic”that performs one or more functions. This logic may include hardware,such as an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmablegate array, a processor, or a microprocessor, software, or a combinationof hardware and software.

No element, act, or instruction used in the description of the presentapplication should be construed as critical or essential to theinvention unless explicitly described as such. Also, as used herein, thearticle “a” is intended to include one or more items. Where only oneitem is intended, the term “one” or similar language is used. Further,the phrase “based on” is intended to mean “based, at least in part, on”unless explicitly stated otherwise.

1. A system comprising: a database to: store a plurality of associationsof information, relating to subscribers, and policies relating to acommunications network, the communications network providing at leastone service to which the subscribers subscribe, the policies including afirst type of policy and a second type of policy, the first type ofpolicy being different than the second type of policy; a policy enginecomprising: a processor to: receive an update to one association of theplurality of associations stored in the database, and forward the updatein response to receiving the update; and a group of policy components,the group of policy components including a first policy component toenforce the first type of policy and a second policy component toenforce the second type of policy, at least one policy component, of thegroup of policy components, being to: receive the update from the policyengine, store the update, and process a received communication requestbased on the update, where the processor is further to: forward, to thefirst policy component and not to the second policy component, the firsttype of policy, and forward, to the second policy component and not tothe first policy component, the second type of policy, where theprocessor is still further to: receive status information relating tothe communications network, update, in response to receiving the statusinformation, at least one policy of the policies, and forward, inresponse to updating the at least one policy, the update to the at leastone policy to a policy component of the group of policy components, andwhere the policy component is to: receive the update to the at least onepolicy from the policy engine, store the received update to the at leastone policy, and process a different communication request using theupdate to the at least one policy.
 2. The system of claim 1 where thesubscribers include subscribers to an Internet Protocol MultimediaSubsystem (IMS).
 3. The system of claim 1 where the updated policyrelates to a network resource identified in the status information.
 4. Asystem comprising: a policy engine in a communications network thatincludes a plurality of policy components, the plurality of policycomponents including a first policy component and a second, differentpolicy component, the policy engine comprising: a memory to store aplurality of associations of information, relating to subscribers, and aplurality of policies relating to the communications network, thecommunications network providing at least one service to which thesubscribers subscribe, the plurality of policies including a first typeof policy and a second type of policy, the first type of policy beingdifferent than the second type of policy, and a processor to: forward,to the first policy component and not to the second policy component,the first type of policy, forward, to the second policy component andnot to the first policy component, the second type of policy, receivestatus information relating to the communications network, update, inresponse to receiving the status information, at least one policy of theplurality of policies stored in the memory, and forward, in response toupdating the at least one policy, the update to a policy component, ofthe plurality of policy components, in the communications network, thepolicy component is to: receive the update to the at least one policyfrom the policy engine, store the received update to the at least onepolicy, and process a communication request using the update to the atleast one policy, where the processor is further to: receive an updateto one association of the plurality of associations stored in thememory, and forward the update to the one association in response toreceiving the update to the one association, and where one policycomponent, of the plurality of policy components, is to: receive theupdate to the one association, store the update to the one association,and process a different communication request based on the update to theone association.
 5. The system of claim 4 where the status informationidentifies one or more resources.
 6. The system of claim 4 where thepolicy component includes at least one of a border gateway function, aserving call session control function (S-CSCF), a proxy call sessioncontrol function (P-CSCF), a breakout gateway control function (BGCF),or a break in gateway control function (BIGCF).
 7. The system of claim 4where the communications network includes an Internet ProtocolMultimedia Subsystem (IMS), and where the memory stores a copy of allpolicies used in the IMS.
 8. The system of claim 4 where the processorforwards the update to the at least one policy component using anextensible markup language (XML) protocol.
 9. A method comprising:storing, at a policy engine, a plurality of associations of information,relating to subscribers, and a plurality of policies relating to acommunications network, the communications network providing at leastone service to which the subscribers subscribe, the plurality ofpolicies including a first type of policy and a second type of policy,the second type of policy being different than the first type of policy;forwarding, by the policy engine, the first type of policy, of theplurality of policies, to a first policy decision point; forwarding, bythe policy engine, the second type of policy, of the plurality ofpolicies, to a second policy decision point, the second policy decisionpoint being different than the first policy decision point; receiving,by the policy engine, information affecting the first type of policy,the information affecting the first type of policy including firststatus information relating to the communications network or a firstupdate to one association of the plurality of associations; forwarding,by the policy engine and based on receiving the information affectingthe first type of policy, an update to the first type of policy to thefirst policy decision point; processing, by the first policy decisionpoint, a received communication based on the update to the first type ofpolicy; receiving, by the policy engine, information affecting thesecond type of policy, the information affecting the second type ofpolicy including second status information relating to thecommunications network or a second update to one association of theplurality of associations; forwarding, by the policy engine and based onreceiving the information affecting the second type of policy, an updateto the second type of policy to the second policy decision point; andprocessing, by the second policy decision point, another receivedcommunication based on the update to the second type of policy.
 10. Themethod of claim 9 where one of the first status information or thesecond status information includes a resource status message identifyingone or more resources.
 11. The method of claim 9 where thecommunications network includes an Internet Protocol MultimediaSubsystem (IMS), and where each policy of the plurality of policiesrelates to accessing the IMS.
 12. The method of claim 9 where theprocessing the received communication includes: routing, via the firstpolicy decision point, traffic through the communications network basedon the update to the first type of policy; and where the processing thereceived other communication includes: routing, via the second policydecision point, traffic through the communications network based on theupdate to the second type of policy.
 13. The system of claim 1, wherethe group of policy components correspond to policy decision points. 14.The system of claim 1, where the first type of policy includes aresource policy, where the second type of policy includes a servicelevel agreement policy, where the first policy component is implementedin a serving call session control function (S-CSCF), and where thesecond policy component is implemented in one or more of a proxy callsession control function (P-CSCF), a breakout gateway control function(BGCF), a break in gateway control function (BIGCF), an access sessionborder controller (A-SBC), or an internetworking session bordercontroller (I-SBC).
 15. The system of claim 1, where the first policycomponent is implemented in a gateway-related device of thecommunications network, and where the second policy component isimplemented in a core of the communications network.
 16. The system ofclaim 4, where the at least one policy includes a resource policy, andwhere the policy component is implemented in a serving call sessioncontrol function (S-CSCF).
 17. The system of claim 4, where the at leastone policy includes a resource policy, and where the policy component isimplemented in a device in a core of the communications network.
 18. Themethod of claim 9, where the first type of policy includes a resourcepolicy, where the second type of policy includes a service levelagreement policy, where the first policy decision point is implementedin a serving call session control function (S-CSCF), and where thesecond policy decision point is implemented in one or more of a proxycall session control function (P-CSCF), a breakout gateway controlfunction (BGCF), a break in gateway control function (BIGCF), an accesssession border controller (A-SBC), or an internetworking session bordercontroller (I-SBC).
 19. The method of claim 9, where the forwarding thefirst type of policy includes: forwarding the first type of policy tothe first policy decision point using an extensible markup language(XML) protocol, and where the forwarding the second type of policyincludes: forwarding the second type of policy to the second policydecision point using the XML protocol.